Kris Bryant

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Kristopher Lee Bryant

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Biographical Information[edit]

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Third baseman Kris Bryant was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 18th round of the 2010 amateur draft. He did not sign, opting to attend the University of San Diego instead. In the 2013 amateur draft, the Chicago Cubs selected him with the second pick, after the Houston Astros selected pitcher Mark Appel first overall. A week later, Kris was named winner of the Dick Howser Trophy. He signed with the Cubs and scout Alex Lontayo on July 12th, just before the deadline, for a record $6.7 million bonus, and made his pro debut with the AZL Cubs on July 21st. He was later named the winner of the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best college baseball player in the United States. In his first professional season, Bryant hit a combined .336/.390/.688 in 36 games, also spending time with the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League and Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League. He showed excellent power, with 14 doubles, 2 triples and 9 homers in 128 at bats, driving in 32 runs. After the season, he was sent to the Arizona Fall League where he continued to impress, winning MVP honors with a line of .364/.457/.727 in 20 games, leading the league with 6 homers, 56 total bases and 22 runs scored.

Bryant continued to impress in 2014, as he was in competition all season with Texas Rangers prospect Joey Gallo for the title of minor league home run leader. Kris began the year with the Tennessee Smokies of the Double A Southern League, where he hit .355/.458/.702 with 22 homers and 58 RBI in 68 games. He was promoted to the Triple A Iowa Cubs on June 19th and selected to play in the 2014 Futures Game. Shortly after he hit his 40th homer of the year in mid-August, he had an MRI on his foot after aggravating a preexisting injury, putting in question a big league debut that season. Fortunately, the exam revealed only a bruise, meaning that he would be back in action after a few days' rest. While Cubs fans were anticipating his making his debut that September, GM Jed Hoyer threw some cold water on that on August 29, explaining that this was not in the team's plans because Bryant was not yet on the major league roster and he did not want to have to remove a player to bring up the young slugger to Wrigley Field. The Cubs, of course, had several mammoth stars to protect on their 40 man roster, household names such as Junior Lake, Brian Schlitter, Eric Jokisch, Mike Olt and Logan Watkins. After the season, Kris was named the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year and the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, finishing the season with a combined batting line of .325/.438/.661, with 34 doubles and 43 homers, 118 runs scored and 110 RBI.

The question for Bryant was now whether he would start the 2015 season as the Cubs' everyday third baseman or whether the Cubs would delay his arbitration clock by a full year by keeping him in Triple A for a few weeks. Part of the answer may have come when the Cubs decided to hire Joe Maddon to manage the team that offseason, firing Rick Renteria after only one season, and splurging on free agent pitcher Jon Lester, giving fans a message that they planned to compete immediately and not two or three years down the road, making Bryant's presence in the lineup more likely. Bryant was one of the most-watched players in spring training and displayed some of his power potential, hitting 6 homers in his first couple of weeks of Cactus League action. But, lo and behold, the Cubs seemed prepared to send him to Triple A anyway, which made his agent Scott Boras boil over: "You are damaging the ethics and brand of Major League Baseball. Kris Bryant has extraordinary skills. Kris Bryant is a superstar. He has distinguished himself from all players at every level he's played. Everybody in baseball is saying he's a major league player ready for the big leagues... This is a flat ownership decision. Do they really want to win here?", Boras stated in an interview with USA Today on March 17th. Team president Theo Epstein replied that this was an organizational decision that had nothing to do with cost implications, the reason being (Epstein seriously said this with a straight face) that Bryant needed to polish his defensive play at third base. The Cubs did indeed send Bryant to minor league camp on March 30th, in spite of his power display, and Boras once again spoke to the press to condemn the decision, as did the Players' Association. For its part, MLB issued a statement that under the Basic Agreement, clubs have the sole prerogative of determining who is on their roster. That decision would lead to Bryant and the Philadelphia Phillies' Maikel Franco filing a grievance after the season over what they called a blatant manipulation of their service time. The ruling came in January 2020 and confirmed that the Cubs had acted within their rights.

As widely expected, as soon as the deadline for early arbitration eligibility passed, the Cubs announced that Bryant's defense at third base was miraculously polished and he was being called up to Chicago, on April 17th, taking the place of Mike Olt, who "won" the starting third base job in spring training but who was placed on the disabled list with a hairline fracture in his wrist, the result of a hit-by-pitch. Kris made his debut the same day, starting at third base and batting clean-up against the San Diego Padres. He went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts but played excellent defense, starting a pair of double plays while handling 8 chances in a 5-4 Cubs loss. Things went better in his second game the next day, as he collected his first major league hit while reaching base five times, on two hits and three walks, in a 7-6, 11-inning win over the Padres. On April 20th, he collected 3 RBI to lead the Cubs to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates; two of those came on a two-run double in the 7th inning, after which he advanced to third on the throw home, and then scored when Bucs catcher Francisco Cervelli let that throw get away from him. That made him 6 for 14 (.419) after 4 games. It took a while, but he finally hit his first big league homer on May 9th, a three-run shot off the Brewers' Kyle Lohse, in a 12-4 loss. That opened the floodgates for him, as he finished May by earning Rookie of the Month honors in the National League. During the month, he hit .265/.365/.510 with 7 home runs, 20 runs scored and 22 RBI. On June 17th, he hit his first career grand slam, teeing off against position player David Murphy, to cap a 17-0 demolition of the Cleveland Indians. He reached another milestone on June 22nd with his first multi-homer game, connecting twice off Clayton Kershaw in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. On July 27th, he hit his first walk-off homer, connecting off Colorado Rockies closer John Axford with two outs in the 9th inning to give the Cubs a 9-8 win. Bryant had cooled down noticeably before that hit, batting only .177 in July although he did check another sign of imminent stardom by appearing in the 2015 All-Star Game. He was again NL Rookie of the Month in August, when he hit .330 with 7 homers and 20 RBI. Fellow Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber also had a great month and, in combination with the outstanding pitching of Jake Arrieta, Chicago surged into the league's second wild card spot with one month to go. On September 19th, he hit his 25th homer in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, tying the Cubs rookie record set by Hall of Famer Billy Williams in 1961. He set a new mark by hitting his 26th, off Tyler Cravy of the Milwaukee Brewers, on September 22nd. He ended the season with 26 homers, 99 RBI and a .275 batting average while leading the NL with 199 strikeouts, the most ever by a rookie. He was voted the Rookie of the Year unanimously. In the postseason, he was hitless in the Wild Card Game, but had a triple and a homer as the Cubs upset the Cardinals in the NLDS, then went 3 for 14 with a double and a homer in the Cubs sweep at the hands of the New York Mets in the NLCS.

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On April 21, 2016, Bryant hit two homers, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs as the Cubs crushed the Cincinnati Reds, 16-0, behind a no-hitter from Jake Arrieta. On June 27th, he did something unprecedented in major league history as he hit three homers and two doubles in one game as he led the Cubs to an 11-7 win over the same Reds. It was both his first career five-hit and three-homer game. He set a new franchise record with 16 total bases and was only the second player in Cubs history to have five extra-base hits in a game, after George Gore in 1885. On August 18th, he went 5-for-5 with 2 homers, a double and 5 RBI in a 9-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. He was named the National League Player of the Month for August after hitting .383 with 7 doubles, 10 homers, 29 runs scored and 22 RBI in the month. Bryant ended the year at .292 with 35 doubles, 39 homers and 102 RBI, leading the NL in runs scored with 121. He cut down significantly on his strikeouts, lowering his total to 154 even though he had more at bats. He continued to hit well in the postseason, batting .375 with 3 extra-base hits in the NLDS against the San Francisco Giants, then .304 with 3 doubles against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Finally, in the 2016 World Series, he had 7 hits, including 2 homers, scored 6 runs and drew 5 walks as the Cubs finally won the big prize for the first time since 1908. He was rewarded for his outstanding season by winning the Hank Aaron Award as the league's best overall hitter and winning the MVP Award in a runaway vote. Ironically, that last award came in spite of the fact he had been beaten by Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies for both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award. It was not an unprecedented situation, as Joey Votto won the NL MVP Award in 2010 under similar circumstances.

Before the 2017 season, Bryant was rewarded with a raise, earning $1.05 million. It was the highest salary ever for a player with two years of experience, just above what Mike Trout earned at a similar point in his career. Kris started the year well: after 73 games, while his batting average was only .259, he was leading the National League with 53 walks and had 16 homers and 32 RBI while having scored 49 runs. On June 28th, he sprained his ankle while catching a ball in foul territory in the 5th inning of a game against the Washington Nationals and had to be escorted off the field. He played 151 games that season, hitting 29 homers and driving in 73 runs while scoring 111. Contrary to the previous year, he did not collect any significant hardware after the season, and even missed going to the All-Star Game as the Cubs were doing poorly at midseason and manager Joe Maddon invited only one of his players - closer Wade Davis, who was not even a member of the previous year's championship squad. The Cubs played much better in the second half, winning the division, and Bryant went 4 for 20 with a pair of doubles and 3 runs scored as the Cubs eliminated the Nationals in the Division Series. In the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, like most of his teammates, his bat was stymied by the Dodgers' pitching as he went 4 for 20, the only extra-base hit being a solo homer off Clayton Kershaw that accounted for the Cubs' lone run in an 11-1 loss in Game 5 on October 19th.

On January 12, 2018, Bryant set a record for a player eligible for salary arbitration for the first time, agreeing to a $10.85 million contract. On April 22nd, he was hit in the head by a 96 mph fastball thrown by Germán Márquez of the Colorado Rockies and left the game, although he appeared to escape what could have been a serious injury. He missed four games before returning on April 28th. On May 9th, he hit the 100th homer of his career in a 13-4 win over the Miami Marlins. It came in the 1st inning off Wei-Yin Chen, on the third anniversary of his first homer, and made him the fastest Cubs player to reach the mark, as he had needed 487 games, 13 fewer than Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. On June 26th, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time of his career, with inflammation in his left shoulder. The move was retroactive to June 23rd. He was reactivated in early July, but two weeks later, returned to the DL with the shoulder acting up again, and he did not return until September 1st. Overall, he played 102 games, hitting .272 with 13 homers and 52 RBI in a disappointing season. He was back healthy in 2019 and, on May 17th, he had the second three-homer game of his career in a 14-6 win over the Washington Nationals. He hit the three long balls in consecutive innings - the 7th, 8th and 9th - also driving in 5 runs to break the game open. He was just the 12th player to pull off the rare feat, and the second to do so in those particular innings (J.D. Martinez had been the first, in his four-homer game in 2017). He rebounded from meager 2018 numbers to post a .282/.382/.521 slash line with 31 homers, 77 RBI and 108 runs scored in 2019.

On July 29, 2020, he started the first triple play turned by the Cubs since 1997. With the bases loaded, he snagged a line drive by Shogo Akiyama of the Cincinnati Reds just off the ground, touched third base and fired to first base. Replays seemed to show that he had actually trapped the ball, but this type of play was not eligible for a video review. He batted just .206 in the pandemic-shortened season, in 34 games, with 4 homers and 11 RBIs. His OPS+ of 74 was well below his usual standards, but he was not the only hitter not be able to adjust to the unusual conditions of that bizarre season. Still, the Cubs finished in first place in the NL Central, but they made a quit postseason exit, being swept in two games in the Wild Card Series by the Miami Marlins. He went 0 for 8 in the two games. In 2021, he came back to his usual level of excellence in the first half, being named to the All-Star team for the fourth time. In 93 games, he batted .267 with 18 homers and 51 RBIs, his OPS+ climbing back to 133. It was the final season of his contract, and after the Cubs were in the race early on, they fell off the pace, and with many others in the same contract situation as him, the Cubs decided to clean house at the trading deadline, conducting a veritable fire sale of their veterans. On July 30th, he was sent to the San Francisco Giants in return for two prospects, OF Alexander Canario and P Caleb Kilian. In his first game for the Giants, on August 1st, he blasted a solo homer to left field in a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros; the pressure was on, as two former Cubs teammates Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez had already homered in their first game for their new teams. He batted .262 with 7 homers and 22 RBIs in 51 games for the Giants finishing the year at .265 with 25 homers and 73 RBIs and an OPS+ of 124. The Giants hung on to win the division title by one game over the Los Angeles Dodgers, setting up a clash between the two titans in the Division Series. Kris went 8 for 17 (.471) with a home run in the series, but the Dodgers managed to eliminate the Giants in Game 5.

Bryant hit free agency for the first time after the 2021 season, and while he was still unsigned when the 2021-2022 lockout brought transactions to a temporay halt, he did find his big payday. On March 16, 2022, the Colorado Rockies inked him to a seven-year deal worth $182 million. In effect, he was replacing Nolan Arenado, who had signed a similar large deal a few years earlier but who had been traded before the 2021 season in what had turned out to be a very ill-advised move. The Rickies let it be known however that they were satisfied with the work of Ryan McMahon, who was himself signed to a large extension a few days later, at third base, and that Bryant's primary position would be left field. The Rockies did not get an immediate return on their investment, however, as he failed to homer in 15 April games and also missed time with a sore back, playing just two games in May, towards the end of the month, and then going down again until June 27th. The long-awaited first homer finally arrived on July 5th, in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. By then, half of the season had been played, and he still only had 6 RBIs in spite of a .293 average. He played his last game on July 31st and ended up playing just 42 games with 5 homers and 14 RBIs for an OPS+ of 127. Surprisingly, all of his homers were hit in 16 road games - and none at Coors Field. He finally broke that skein on April 17, 2023, when he homered off Rich Hill of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 14-3 loss.

Bryant's father, Mike, played in the Boston Red Sox chain in 1980-1981. After the 2016 season, Kris married his girlfriend, Jessica Delp.

Notable Achievements[edit]


NL Rookie of the Year
2014 2015 2016
Jacob deGrom Kris Bryant Corey Seager
NL MVP
2015 2016 2017
Bryce Harper Kris Bryant Giancarlo Stanton

Further Reading[edit]

  • Nick Aguilera: "The lowdown on FA 3B/OF Kris Bryant", mlb.com November 21, 2021. [1]
  • Mark Bowman: "Why I put Bryant 1st on my ballot: MLB.com's Braves beat reporter explains his ballot", mlb.com, November 17, 2017. [2]
  • J.J. Cooper: "2014 Minor League Player Of The Year: Kris Bryant", Baseball America, September 9, 2014. [3]
  • Maria Guardado: "Giants trade for Bryant right before Deadline: Club also bolsters bullpen by reuniting with left-hander Watson", mlb.com, July 30, 2021. [4]
  • Thomas Harding: "Rockies to land Bryant for 7 years, $182M (source)", mlb.com, March 16, 2022. [5]
  • Carrie Muskat: "Bryant wins NL MVP year after winning ROY", mlb.com November 17, 2016. [6]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Kris Bryant's fate has Scott Boras, Cubs fans atwitter", USA Today Sports, March 17, 2015. [7]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Kris Bryant’s wonderful life: World Series champion starting his career at the top", USA Today Sports, February 16, 2017. [8]
  • Jorge L. Ortiz: "Cubs' Kris Bryant near unanimous National League MVP", USA Today Sports, November 17, 2016. [9]
  • Phil Rogers: "No need to wait: Cubs have a spot for Bryant: Goal of contending now would be served by moving top prospect to Majors", mlb.com, December 23, 2014. [10]
  • Andrew Simon: "Batting Bryant leadoff makes sense for Cubs: Slugger has skills that would prove beneficial from top of lineup", mlb.com, January 18, 2018. [11]

Related Sites[edit]

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